Policy
Digital technologies and democracy: challenges ahead
Interview with Professor Barbara Prainsack We cannot imagine a world without digital innovation and technology anymore. But what is its impact on our democracy, the corner stone of our civilisation? What challenges are we facing? The independent advisory body European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) recently published an Opinion on this ...
Neurorights: Do our brains need to be protected by legislation?
Interview with Prof. Guilherme Wood on the Neurorights Today we stand on the threshold of a new revolution: neurotechnology – devices and procedures that seek to access, assess, emulate and act on neural systems – is booming. Driven by new developments in artificial intelligence, they can be used for medical purposes, such as helping paralysed ...
New STOA study on better access to medicines in the EU
Interview with study author Simona Gamba When it comes to less profitable markets such as rare diseases, paediatric diseases or antimicrobials, medicines in the EU could be hard to come by, both in terms of price and availability. On Thursday 19 October, Senior Assistant Professor Simona Gamba (University of Milan, Italy) presented the study "Improving ...
‘Heavy red meat eaters could be CO2-taxed in the future’
"However, we also propose that fruit and vegetables should become more affordable." Interview with Eric Lambin, Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Commission, about the scientific consensus towards sustainable food consumption in the EU and the new scientific opinion on this topic. If you rate the nutritional quality and the state of sustainable food systems ...
Prof. Maarja Kruusmaa: Nowadays crises are complex, spread quickly and come in cascades
Interview with the European Commission’s Chief Scientific Advisor Prof. Maarja Kruusmaa of Tallinn University (Estonia), about lessons and challenges for future strategic crisis management. For years, the EU has been rushing from crisis to crisis. The European Commission has asked the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission (GCSA) to write a scientific ...
Weiss and Rendtorff: ‘Academic freedom is under threat, and common European action is needed’
Throughout the 20th century, freedom of thought and freedom of speech at Europe’s universities stood as a bulwark in the struggle between totalitarianism and liberal democracy. With the emergence of populism and a society on digital steroids, it’s now more important than ever to strengthen freedom at European universities. Opinion article by Member of the ...
Technological vulnerabilities that threaten the European Union’s ‘Open Strategic Autonomy’ and the EU’s response
According to expert Dr Alice Pannier, 'Strategic Autonomy' is also referred to as 'sovereignty', but it's 'open' in order to not undermine the openness of the EU economy: "If the EU has technological sovereignty, it will be able to act autonomously on the international stage rather than have to rely on foreign suppliers and potentially ...
Interview with Prof. Kurt Deketelaere on academic freedom
"Academic freedom, like freedom of any kind, is not a spontaneous state of affairs. The public authorities must respect, protect, ensure and promote it", says Kurt Deketelaere, Professor of Law and Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). He will speak at the European Parliament’s STOA conference 'How to provide enforceable protection for ...
